J. M. Synge: A Bibliography of Criticism PDF
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J. M. SYNGE: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CRITICISM By the same author The Social and Cultural Setting of the 1890s John Galsworthy the Dramatist Comedy and Tragedy Sean O'Casey: A Bibliography of Criticism A Bibliography of Modern Irish Drama 1899-1970 Dissertations on Anglo-Irish Drama: A Bibliography of Studies 1870-1970 The Sting and the Twinkle: Conversations with Sean O'Casey (co-editor with john O'Riordan) J. M. SYNGE A Bibliography of Criticism E. H. Mikhail Professor of English Literature University of Lethbridge, Canada Foreword by Robin Skelton Professor of English University of Victoria, British Columbia © E. H. Mikhai11975 Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1975 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. First published 1975 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Associated companies in New York Dublin Melbourne johannesburg and Madras SBN 333 16829 1 ISBN 978-1-349-02278-6 ISBN 978-1-349-02276-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-02276-2 To my Wife Contents Foreword by Robin Skelton ix Preface xiii BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1 BOOKS BY J. M. SYNGE AND THEIR REVIEWS 9 In the Shadow of the Glen 9 The Shadow of the Glen and Riders to the Sea 9 The Well of the Saints 9 The A ran Islands 9 The Playboy of the Western World 9 The Tinker's Wedding 10 Poems and Translations 10 Deirdre of the Sorrows 10 The Works of john M. Synge 10 Some Unpublished Letters and Documents of ]. M. Synge 11 The Autobiography of]. M. Synge 11 Collected Works 11 Some Letters of john M. Synge to Lady Gregory and W. B. Yeats 12 Letters to Molly 12 The Synge Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College Dublin 13 Some Sonnets from 'Laura in Death' 13 j. M. Synge to Lady Gregory and W. B. Yeats 13 My Wallet ofP hotographs 13 CRITICISM ON J. M. SYNGE 15 (a) Books 15 vii Contents (b) Periodicals 69 (c) Reviews of Play Productions 108 The Shadow of the Glen 108 Riders to the Sea 117 The Well of the Saints 125 The Playboy of the Western World 133 The Tinker's Wedding 183 Deirdre of the Sorrows 186 (d) Unpublished Material 191 (e) Recordings 198 (f) Background 199 Index of Works 201 Index of Authors 202 Foreword by Robin Skelton The amount of information given in this volume is a clear indication of the interest that the work of J. M. Synge has aroused over the years. Even a brief scrutiny of the titles of the various articles and critical works reveals the way in which Synge's work has aroused an extraordinary variety of reactions. Synge, indeed, is a Shakespearean Hgure in that he, like Shakespeare, had been used in the service of a wide variety of causes. We can find critics who use him to maintain the importance of Irish Nationalism; we can Hnd others who use him as an exemplar of the European Sensibility. He has been viewed as primarily a satirist, as essentially a romantic, as a thoroughgoing realist, and as the most subtle of symbolists. The A ran Islands has been lauded as an exact portrayal of an important aspect of Irish life and tradition, and as a deeply personal piece of myth-making. The Playboy of the Western World has aroused almost as much controversy as Hamlet, and a good deal more political disturbance. It is not only the work but also the personality of Synge which present problems of this kind. Here again we Hnd differing views. How can we reconcile the tough-minded, harsh-tongued Synge of some of the more 'brutal' poems with the anxious, jealous, neurotic writer of the letters to Molly? How can we reconcile the author of the Letter to a Hedge Schoolmaster with the man who adored the Irish language? How can we, even, reconcile the anarchist (or at least socialist) opinions implied by many essays, with those of others which reveal a nostalgia for the days of the 'Big House' and how bring together the anarchism and the elitism? The problem of seeing Synge clear and of seeing him whole has been intensified by the accidents of history. Until the nineteen-sixties, when the Oxford University Press edition of ix Foreword his work began to come off the presses, we had no texts of half his poems, and only a hint or two about many of his early essays into drama. The Greene and Stevens biography emerged fifty years after the writer's death, and this has been followed by a number of books in which additional biographical information has been given, as well as several collections of letters many of which were unknown to the biographers. As a consequence of this, much relating to Synge remains to be discussed. His political views have only been touched upon gingerly, possibly because it is difficult to fit him into any acceptable party or category. His lifelong (almost) obsession with the Muse-like figure of the inspiring and shaping woman has not yet received due attention. (One should recall here that Petrarch first saw Laura in a green gown, that Synge called one of his earliest lady friends in Paris, La Robe Verte, and translated Petrarch towards the end of his life, and that green is the colour oflreland.) Much, indeed, remains to ponder over and to comment upon, but no fresh investigation can be begun without a close examination of all that has been said so far. It is here that this book is of such enormous value. It directs us, with clarity and precision, to all the most significant and symptomatic reactions to the work of Synge. It enables us to begin to see how the criticism of Synge has been distorted by political enthusiasms, by personal prejudice, and by the changing perspectives of history. It does not, of course, give us everything we could possibly need. We are not provided with a check-list of the translations of Synge's work, and are thus deprived of an accurate insight into Synge's significance as a world figure. It does not give us the detailed information that could only be provided by a full-dress bibliography of of Synge's works. These are two matters which fall outside its province, and rightly so. This book is not intended to do our work for us, but to direct us to work that is yet to be done. It is less a conclusive summary than a compulsive summons, and it is to be hoped that when the time for a second edition comes around there will be many more entries reflecting the way in which the first one has directed and assisted us towards the further exploration of an author whose works and personality remain significant, not only to X
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